The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant, botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘RIKAV44501’.
The new Verbena plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan and Bonsall, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new vigorous and freely-branching Verbena plants with numerous flowers and tolerance to Powdery Mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) and good garden performance.
The new Verbena plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor on May 18, 2015 in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan of a proprietary seedling selection of Verbena hybrida identified as code number 14V353-01, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary seedling selection of Verbena hybrida identified as code number 13V349-04, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Verbena plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Bonsall, Calif. on May 26, 2016.
Asexual reproduction of the new Verbena plant by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Bonsall, Calif. since May 30, 2016, has shown that the unique features of this new Verbena plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.